Reverend W. Holman  1720,
According to the Reverend W. Holman who wrote in about 1720,
that the Monks of priors Hall and the owner of the Widdington Hall,
Who had their own small chapel decided to build a church in the village,
this was erected in the early 12th century, and dedicated to  St. Mary the Virgin.

Our church with its wooden steeple back in 1650 .

Well this is what I think it could have looked like.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth century the church fell into disrepair and the living was so poor that frequently no vicar would accept the post. There was a period of re-building in the eighteenth century but by 1850 the church was again in a state of disrepair. Apart from the chancel the church was practically entirely rebuilt in 1858-9

WIDDINGTON.

The bells from this church were sold, only one left in the tower, which was replaced by three in 1873, by Francis Smith; they were cast by I. Taylor & Co, Founders, Lough- borough, 1873. The size of the Tenor is 3ft. 8in. weight 14 hhd., second 3ft. 3in., weight 10 hhd., treble 3ft., weight 8 hhd.

1859 From the Rev. A. E. Fowler, Widdington, Essex.

I hereby certify that Messrs. Boosey and Sons have supplied us with one of Evans's Harmoniums with ten stops, which is now placed in our church, and I have great pleasure in stating that the instrument is highly approved for its excellence of tone, and for its great power-being quite equal to filling our church and to leading the village choir.

The Musical World 1859-12-24: Vol 37 Iss 52

Born 20th September 1814; died 21st February 1895.
Mr Ewan Christian, the eminent architect, was a Manxman by descent (Isle of Man Manx) belonging to the family of Christian of Milntown. During his long and busy life he designed about 40 new churches 200 parsonage houses, numerous schools, country houses, banks and business premises. He also restored nearly 150 churches But these figures by no means give the full extent of his influence in the ecclesiastical buildings of the last half-century. Mr Christian, since 1850 had been the consulting architect to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners of England, His last important work was the addition to the National Gallery, London, to form a National Portrait Gallery, at a cost of £80,000, he received the gold medal given by the Royal Institute of British Architects. In replying he said: " Mine has been a life of independent service, not of exploits. My highest ambition has been that of doing to the best of my ability the duty from time to time set before me to accomplish, and of maintaining unsullied in every sense the high character of an honourable and independent architect. " This describes his character and his aim in life worthy of all respect, worthy of imitation by all.

In 1594 the church was in a sorry state of decay.
In a Visitation held in 1686  (1.)  It was reported that the tower of the steeple is cracked.
Things were allowed to go from bad to worse, for the parish register under the date 15th May 1771, contained this entry: the whole steeple from top to bottom, with ten feet in breadth of both sides of the body of the church, fell down.
Three brass bells out of the five were dug out of ye rubbish unhurt,
With the tower down there was a big hole in the wall and damage to the roof. To pay for the church repairs the then churchwarden sold the bells and with the proceeds. built from red brick a new end wall. The roof was patched and a new dovecote was placed on top with a small bell hung in it.

(1) THE VISITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

May 31 – July 2
After the angel Gabriel had announced to Mary that she was to become the mother of Our Lord, Mary went from Galilee to Judea to visit her kinswoman Elizabeth, soon to be the mother of John the Baptist. This visit is recorded in Luke 1:39-56. Elizabeth greeted Mary with the words, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb." Mary burst forth with the song of praise, which we call the Magnificent, beginning, "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord." We are told that even John the Baptist, still unborn, leaped for joy in his mother's womb. Thus we are shown, side by side, the two women, one seemingly too old to have a child, but destined to bear the last prophet of the Old Covenant, of the age that was passing away; and the other woman, seemingly not ready to have a child, but destined to bear the One Who was Himself the beginning of the New Covenant, the age that would not pass away. It is this meeting that we celebrate today.

In 1872 This little 14th century Brass effigy was found beneath the old stone church floor. When the brass civilian was discovered it was still affixed to its stone slab. After the restoration it was affixed to the north wall of the Nave,  where it can be seen to this day

I found a snippet suggesting the brass effigy is of John Greene, 1400- 1473 : Speaker of the House of Commons 1460 He originated from Cheshire After marring Anges Duke, of Widdington Hall, and maybe after her fathers death he took over the Hall and made Widdington his home

He was a gentleman of great worship and a patron of the our church. He married John Duke's Doughtier , Agnes Duke, of Widdington Hall, John Green, who died on the 1st May 1473 was buried in Gosfield, Essex, His brother David was Parson of Little Samford, Essex, The dress and hairstyle is of that era

From the Rev. A. E. Fowler, Widdington, Essex.

I hereby certify that Messrs. Boosey and Sons have supplied us with one of Evans's Harmoniums with ten stops, which is now placed in our church, and I have great pleasure in stating that the instrument is highly approved for its excellence of tone, and for its great power-being quite equal to filling our church and to leading the village choir.

Holy Communion

Traditional spoken service using the 1662 Book of Common Prayer with a short sermon.

On the first and third Sunday at 8:30 AM for 1 hour

All Age Worship

Less formal traditional service with some more modern songs and family-friendly elements.

On the second Sunday at 11:15 AM for 1 hour

Family Communion

Common worship service with communion.

On the fourth Sunday at 11:15 AM for 1 hour

2nd, 4th and 5th Sundays 10 a.m. Common Worship Holy Communion During the interregnum we are joining Newport for the All Age Service which is at 10 a.m. on the 2nd Sunday of the month.

The clock, which cost over £70, was placed in the tower in 1897, to commemorate the 60th year of Queen Victoria’s Reign. It was presented by the Rector and Parishioners of Widdington From the Village Chronicle
The Rev. court was our vicar, a most remarkable man, and a book could be written about him.  He was very old then, and sometimes the same hymns were given out twice, as he swayed in the pulpit.  You may recollect the stained glass in the Church of a sundial (very unusual) it was taken out in the last World War and kept in the Old Rectory in case of damage and put under a cushion.  One day, forgetting it was there, Court sat in the chair and cracked it, and so you see it like that now, but back in its former place!

1903 Window in memory of John Moore Dillon - He shall give his angels charge over thee

A Lychgate is a covered open structure, found at a church entrance. The structure normally consists of four or six oak posts embedded 

in the ground in a rectangular shape. On top of this are a number of beams to hold a steeply sloping straight-pitched roof covered in wooden or clay peg tiles. The name is derived from the Saxon Lych meaning "corpse" and gate meaning entrance. Hence corpse entrance. lychgates were built from about the mid 15th century. It was the custom at that time for the priests to conduct the first part of the funeral service under its shelter. The rich were the only people buried in coffins most people were buried in just shroud the dead were carried to the lych gate and placed on a large flagstone or on a bier, for the priest to start the funeral service. (A bier was often a wooden board on which the dead were placed)

Widdington (St. Mary) WIDDINGTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union

of Saffron-Walden, hundred of Uttlesford, N. division of Essex, 8 miles (N. N. E.)

from BishopStortford; containing 377 inhabitants. It comprises

2087a. 2r. 37p., of which 1375 acres are arable, 337 pasture,

and 248 woodland. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's

books at £25, and in the gift of W. J. Campbell, Esq.: the tithes

have been commuted for £570, and the glebe comprises 42 acres.

The church, a small edifice of stone, partly rebuilt with brick,

retains several details in the Norman style

Reverend W. Holman 1720,
According to the Reverend W. Holman who wrote in about 1720, that the Monks of priors Hall and the o own small chapel decided to build a church in the
village, this was erected in the early 12th century, and dedicated to St. Mary the Virg
EWAN CHRISTIAN. (Architect) Born 20th September 1814; died 21st February 1895.
Mr Ewan Christian, the eminent architect, was a Manxman by descent (Isle of Man Manx) belonging to the family of Christian of Milnt designed about 40 new churches 200 parsonage houses, numerous schools, country houses, banks and business premises. He also res by no means give the full extent of his influence in the ecclesiastical buildings of the last half-century. Mr Christian, since 1850 had bee Ecclesiastical Commissioners of England, His last important work was the addition to the National Gallery, London, to form a National received the gold medal given by the Royal Institute of British Architects. In replying he said:" Mine has been a life of independent serv been that of doing to the best of my ability the duty from time to time set before me to accomplish, and of maintaining
unsullied in eve and independent architect." This describes his character and his aim in l

WW1 Triple Award Winner MID MSM Croix de Guerre ASC Rector of Widdington,

ss-5509 Staff Sergeant John Thomas Stevens first landed in France on 19 May 1915 and was attached to the 14th Division HQ.

He was MID LG 15 June 1916

Following year he was awarded his MSM on LG 4 June 1917. Finally he was awarded a Croix Du Guerre by the King of the Belgians LG 2 Sept 1919 Page 11244

He was Born in Bexhill on 16 April 1887 and by the time the 1st WW broke out he had been a Solicitors Clerk in the town for 16 Years. After the War he got a place at Worcester College, Oxford where he gained a BA in Modern History with Distinction in 1921. The following year he got a Diploma in Theology with Distinction. He became Chaplain of St Andrew's Hospital in 1926 to 1950 a large asylum in Northampton and was Rector of Widdington, Near Saffron Walden in Essex from 1950.

OBITUARY

St john's college Cambridge

JAMES WALTER COURT (B.A. 1884), rector of Widdington, Essex, from 1886 to 1947, died 25 February 1950 at Saffron Walden, aged 89.

THE EXAMINER A Sunday News paper: Sunday 15th November 1818

Marriages 1818

On Thursday at St Andrew's Holborn, the Rev. Richard Birch Rector of Widdington and Bradwell Essex to Elizabeth second daughter of the late William Webb Esq of Great James street Bedford row.